Oklahoma State football: Cowboys take care of business vs. Kansas

On a pleasant October evening that involved the school’s centennial Homecoming celebrations, Oklahoma State football left little doubt on the football field against Kansas: the Cowboys are at a different level than the Jayhawks.

If there was any lingering concerns about OSU (7-1, 4-1) facing a letdown game after suffering its first loss of the season last week against a Kansas team (1-7, 0-5) that had just challenged No. 4 Oklahoma, those doubts were dispelled quickly. OSU  got it done all night against an overmatched Kansas squad at Boone Pickens Stadium, outgaining the Jayhawks by nearly 400 total yards en route to a 55-3 victory.

Oklahoma State football dominated every facet of the game in its 12th consecutive win against Kansas on Homecoming from Saturday night.

Kansas didn’t achieve a first down until midway through the third quarter and was trailing 45-0 at that point. Mike Gundy and the OSU coaching staff pulled starting quarterback Spencer Sanders before halftime in favor of his backup, Shane Illingworth. Kansas quarterback Jason Bean threw two interceptions among his first three attempted passes. 10 different Cowboys caught a pass, a four different Cowboys players had a touchdown reception.

As a team, Kansas tallied 44 passing yards for the entire game and became yet another foe that OSU has held to below its total yardage and scoring average on the season. The Jayhawks finished 0-for-13 on third-down conversions.

Entering the game, KU was actually one of the Big 12’s best in forcing turnovers, having at least one takeaway in each of its first seven games. That streak was snapped against the efficient Pokes on Saturday night.

Sanders finished the game on 12-of-19 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns while adding 53 yards on the ground. He now has back-to-back games with multiple touchdown passes in the regular season for the first time since his freshman year.

The numbers don’t tell the whole story, of course. The OSU offensive line opened up gaping holes for running backs Jaylen Warren from the get-go. Backup running back Dominic Richardson recorded his first touchdown of the season, too, while carrying the ball 11 times for 79 yards. The Cowboys defense got several key third-and-short stops to frustrate the Kansas offense in the first half.

First-year Kansas head coach Lance Leipold didn’t get to his new post until April of this past year and is clearly in a difficult position with the Jayhawks program. The squad has only won five games against Big 12 opponents in the past decade, the worst mark of any team and conference in the nation.

There are bigger fish to fry for OSU — just look at next weekend’s trip to Morgantown to face a resurgent West Virginia team — but the Cowboys deserve credit for taking care of business against Kansas.